Arrangement for sequential dispensing of multi-ply tissues



H. H. SCHOLZ Feb. 20, 1968 -PLY TISSUES ARRANGEMENT FOR SEQUENTIAL DISPENSING OF MULTI 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 29, 1966 Feb. 20, 1968 r H. H. SCHOLZ 3,369,698

ARRANGEMENT FOR SEQUENTIAL DISPENSING OF MULTI-PLY TISSUES Filed March 29, 1966 ZSheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent C) 3,369,698 ARRANGEMENT FOR SEQUENTIAL DISPENSING OF MULTI-PLY TISSUES Herbert H. Scholz, Neenah, Wis., assignor to Kimberly- Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 538,417 6 Claims. (Cl. 221-48) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dispensing arrangement for a stack of interleaved multi-ply tissues in which the plies of a leading portion of each tissue are disposed in face to face contact, while a trailing portion of at least one ply-of each tissue is separated from its neighboring ply, and the leading pot-tion of each immediately succeeding tissue in the stack is embraced between the separated plies of the trailing portion of the tissue which immediately precedes it in the stack. Preferably, at least one of the inner surfaces of the separated plies is rough, while the surfaces of the outer plies of each tissue are smooth.

This invention relates to an improved tissue dispensing arrangement. More particularly it relates to an improved interleaving arrangement for multi-ply tissues.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a stack of interleaved, unconnected, multi-ply tissue sheets in a form which insures the positive sequential dispensing of each tissue from the stack when disposed in a dispenser.

Another object is to provide an arrangement to improve the dispensing of interleaved multi-ply tissues from deep dispensing containers.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view illustrating the manner in which two-ply tissues are normally interleaved and disposed in a dispensing container.

FIG. 2 is a similar view illustrating the folding and interleaving of two-ply tissues in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an open expanded view of the folding and interleaving arrangement of FIG. 2, with alternate twoply tissues shown in the form of broken lines for clarity.

FIG. 3a is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the interleaving arrangement of the invention in combination with regularly interleaved tissues.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a common type dispensing container for tissues.

FIG. 5 is a view of a dispensing carton for tissues in which the dispensing aperture is modified by the inclusion of flexible plastic lips.

FIG. 6 is a partial section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Facial tissue usually comprises a unitary structure made up of at least two piles of thin, lightweight, absorbent, creped cellulosic sheets. In manufacturing such tissue, the plies are normally stretched and calendered while in face-to-face engagement whereby the outer surfaces of the plied-up tissue are rendered smooth and soft to the touch while the inner facing surfaces retain some of their original uneven creped characteristics to provide bulk and hand. An apparatus and method for performing this operation is shown in FIG. 3 of the K. M. Enloe et al. US. Patent No. 3,172,564, dated Mar. 9, 1965.

In the most common packaging arrangement for interleaved tissues, the individual plies comprising each tissue are superimposed in registry, folded in half, and the folded tissue interleaved with other tissues, whereby they may "ice be dispensed in sequence. In one such arrangement, as shown in FIG. 1, the free edges 11 and 12 of the folded halves of two adjacent two-ply tissues are juxtaposed and enclosed within the fold 13 of an intermediate two-ply tissue to form an interleaved stack. The interleaved stack is normally placed in a dispensing container 15 having a slot 14 or other type aperture in the top wall 16 through which the tissues are dispensed in sequential fashion.

The above-described interleaving commonly takes two forms. In one form, the transverse edges of tissue sheets are connected to each other by small unbroken segments called bonds. These bonds are broken by the frictional force created when the tissue is drawn through a restricted aperture in the dispensing container. The interconnection between sheets is usually strong enough to permit a portion of the sheet to be drawn through the aperture before the interconnecting bonds break, thus providing uninterrupted sequential dispensing. In this form of interleaving the machine direction and general fiber alignment of the individual plies is normal to the fold line.

In the second form of interleaving, with which this invention is concerned, and as shown in FIG. 1, the interleaved tissues are not connected. The machine direction and general fiber alignment of the individual plies is parallel to the folds. Because the tissues are not physically connected to each other, sequential dispensing, when this type of interleaving is used, is sometimes interrupted because there is not sufiicient frictional engagement between the adjacent smooth outer surface of facing sheets for the leading sheet to pull the trailing sheet through the dispensing aperture each time. In such circumstances, the trailing sheet 12b, as shown in FIG. 1, often falls back, out of reach, and must be retrieved to start the dispensing sequence again. This is especially true when dispensers which are deeper than the stack width are used, and occurs most often when the stack of tissues has fallen below the half-filled mark. The situation is also aggravated because the outer contacting surfaces of adjacent interleaved sheets have been calendered as previously described so that frictional attraction between sheets is reduced. Since the type of interleaving in which the tissues are unconnected is much more economical to produce than is the first described interconnected arrangement, a solution for the above-defined problem of interrupted dispensing and fall-back of tissues is highly desirable. The arrangements set forth herein successfully solve that problem.

FIG. 1 shows one conventional arrangement of unconnected interleaved tissue for sequential dispensing through the dispensing aperture of 'a container of the type shown in FIG. 4, which container has a pair of opposed side walls 18, a pair of opposed end walls 19, a bottom wall, not shown, and a top wall 16 having a dispensing slot 14, through which the leading edge 12a of a two-ply tissue is threaded and gripped. In the conventional interleaving arrangement of FIG. 1, the trailing edge 11 and the leading edge 12 of adjacent two-ply tissues are enclosed Within the medial fold 13 of an immediately adjacent and surrounding two-ply tissue. Thus when the leading edge 11a of the top tissue sheet in a stack is pulled through aperture 14 in the top Wall 16 of dispensing container 15, the leading edge 12 of the following tissue sheet attempts to follow the top sheet through the dispensing aperture 14. Normally this will succeed, particularly when the container is more than half full of tissues. However, as the stack of tissues is depleted, the span of travel from tissue stack to dispensing opening becomes greater and there is more chance for the leading edge of the following tissue to become disengaged from its predecessor before entering the aperture. This is especially true when the transverse dimension of the folded tissue is less than the depth of the dispensing container. As a result, the leading edge 12b of the following tissue, may hit the interior surface 17 of the top wall 16 before reaching aperture 14 and fall back into the container, from where it must be retrieved if sequential dispensing is to continue.

An arrangement as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 overcomes the above-described problem. In the arrangement shown, the leading edge 21 and top half of each two-ply tissue sheet is enclosed between top ply 22a and bottom ply 22b of the trailing half of the preceding tissue. Thus, when the leading edge 21a of the top tissue in a stack of tissues interleaved in this manner is pulled through aperture 24 in the top wall 26 of container 25, the leading edge 21b of the following sheet, which is embraced between the single plies 22a and 22b of the top tissue, must necessarily follow the top sheet through aperture 24 and cannot fall back into the container once it is threaded through and gripped by the edges of aperture 24.

As noted above, the problem involved with fall-back of tissues when conventional interleaving is used becomes greater as the level of the stack of tissues falls below the half-filled mark. Accordingly, all tissues in the stack need not be interleaved in the improved manner described. It is possible to alleviate the major cause of the problem by using the new type of interleaving arrangement in only the lower half or lower fourth of the tissue stack. Accordingly, the upper half of the stack may still be interleaved in the conventional way. This modification is easily accomplished since the two types of interleaving can be joined without difliculty. FIG. 3a illustrates how the tissues can be arranged for this modified embodiment. As shown in that drawing, the top portion of the stack has the conventional interleaving arrangement wherein the trailing edge 11 and the leading edge 12 of adjacent twoply tissues are enclosed within the medial fold 13 of an immediately adjacent two-ply tissue. Then farther down in the stack, the leading edge 21 and top half of each two-ply tissue sheet is enclosed between top ply 22a and bottom ply 22b of the trailing half of the preceding tissue.

Thus, in this modified arrangement, the two types of interleaving are combined, with the improved interleaving arrangement confined to the bottom A to /2 of the stack where it is most needed.

FIG. shows another variation of a dispensing container for interleaved tissues recently introduced on the market to alleviate the problem of interrupted sequential dispensing as well as to solve the problem of fall-back and double pull which sometimes arises when interleaved and interconnected tissues are used with deep dispensing cartons. Double pull refers to pulling out more than one tissue because frictional resistance of the dispensing opening is not sutficient to break the tissue-to-.

tissue bonds in interconnected tissues. The container is comprised of paperboard walls and in the illustrated perspective view shows a side wall 32, one end wall 29, and a top wall 30 having an oblate opening 31 therein bridged by a pair of flexible plastic lips 27 and 28, which form a flexible slot 23 through which the leading edge 21a of a tissue is threaded.

While this type of container is an improvement over conventional dispensers in that the flexible lips grip the tissue sheet more securely to help prevent fall-back, when interleaved and unconnected tissue arrangement of the type shown in FIG. 1 is used therewith, the problem of interrupted sequential feeding still exists to some extent in the lower portion of the stack when dispensers are used which are deeper than the width of the tissue stack. Accordingly, the interleaved arrangement of this invention is also useful with dispensing cartons of this type.

The herein described arrangement thus permits uninterrupted sequential dispensing of every tissue in a stack of interleaved tissues, no matter how deep the container.

One reason advanced for the improved dispensing is that in addition to providing twice the frictional area as before, the rougher inner surface of each single ply increases the amount of friction when in contact with the smoother outer surface of the enclosed tissue to provide positive gripping force on the inner tissue. In instances where the tissue stack is highly compressed before packaging, as also described in the aforementioned US. Patent 3,172,564, the compression increases the bonding effect of the rough inner surfaces to the smooth outer surfaces.

Also, since the alignment, of the majority of fibers in the tissue plies is parallel to the fold, additional frictional attraction of the embracing tissue with the enclosed tissue is provided.

Still further frictional attraction between interleaved tissues may be provided if the wire side of the tissue ply, as formed on a Fourdrinier paper machine, is arranged so that in the two-ply tissue the wire sides of the tissue plies are in face-to-face contact.

While the specific examples are directed to two-ply sheets, the invention is readily adapted to sheets having three or more plies. In such cases, the leading edge of each multi-ply sheet will have all plies in contiguous faceto-face contact, while the trailing edge of each sheet will have at least one of the plies disposed so that the leading edge of the succeeding sheet may be inserted between two of the separated plies in a manner similar to the twoply arrangement.

It is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific constructions and methods shown and described, except only insofar as the claims may be so limited, as it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved arrangement of interleaved multi-ply tissues for sequential dispensing; said arrangement comprising a stack of folded and interleaved tissues, of at least two-plies each, disposed in a dispensing container having a dispensing aperture therein; each of said tissues in said stack having the plies in its leading portion disposed in face-to-fa-ce contiguous contact, having the wire side of each of the outer plies of each of said multi-ply tissue facing inwardly, having at least one of the plies in the trailing portion of said tissue separated from its neighboring ply, and having disposed between said ply and its neighbor, and in contact therewith, the leading portion of the immediately succeeding tissue so that the embracing contact of each leading tissue with the succeeding tissue causes the succeeding tissue to be partially pulled through said dispensing aperture by said leading tissue when the leading tissue is dispensed through said aperture.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 in which the major portion of the fibers in each of the tissue plies are aligned parallel to the fold line.

3. The arrangement of claim 1 in which each tissue consists of two plies.

4. The arrangement of claim 3 in which the inner surfaces of the separated plies are rough and the outer surfaces of the contiguous plies are smooth.

5. An arrangement of the character described comprising a stack of interleaved two-ply tissues disposed in a dispensing containre; said container having side and end walls of substantial depth and a top wall having a dispensing aperture therein; each of the tissues in said stack being folded in half with the folded edge of alternate tissues facing opposite side walls of said container; the tissues in the top portion of said stack being arranged with the free edges of two adjacent two-ply tissues juxtaposed and enclosed within the fold of an immediately adjacent third tissue on alternate edges of said stack; each of the tissues in the lower portion of said stack being arranged with the plies in the top half of each tissue maintained in contiguous relationship, the plies in the bottom half of each tissue being separated from each other and having disposed therebetween the two-ply top half of the immediately underlying tissue in said stack; the top tissue in the lower portion of said stack being interleaved with the bottom tissue in the upper portion of said stack.

6. The arrangement of claim 5 in which the lower portion of said stack comprises from one-fourth to one-half of the height of the stack.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS SAlMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner. 

